Photo: Getty Images

City Council today unanimously approved $300 million for eight large-scale initiatives that will reduce carbon emissions, improve infrastructure, and create local economic opportunities in energy efficiency, construction, and renewable energy.

The portfolio represents the largest set of investments to date from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), the voter-approved tax on large retailers that channels funds to community-led climate investments. The $300 million package is part of PCEF’s overall $1.6 billion five-year Climate Investment Plan that Council updated earlier this month.

“These projects are transformative,” said PCEF manager Sam Baraso. “We are collectively acting at the speed of climate change – which is now – while creating lasting improvements in schools, homes, jobs and our city’s infrastructure, starting with our communities that have been long left behind.”

The package, called Collaborating for Climate Action, was designed in cooperation with community members and experts to ramp up equitable climate action on a large scale. Each project is led by a nonprofit organization or government agency and involves multiple partners from the private, public, and nonprofit community.

Along with significantly reducing carbon emissions, most projects have workforce development investments that will train thousands of people for living-wage careers in a variety of fields. Those include green construction, vehicle electrification, HVAC installation, building operations and maintenance, and renewable energy installation.

The projects, starting with the largest investments, are as follows:

$70 million for climate resilient schools through the Multnomah Education Service District. A consortium of Portland’s six school districts – Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Multnomah ESD, Portland Public Schools and Reynolds – will use PCEF funds for multiple improvements. Those include installing energy-efficient HVAC systems, geothermal heating, LED lighting, window replacements, transportation decarbonization and green schoolyard projects. These improvements will reduce carbon emissions and enhance climate resilience while directly benefiting underserved communities, including low-income students and students of color. Other benefits include improved air quality, healthier learning environments and financial savings that can be reinvested in education.

“These projects will impact students across the city in schools that serve roughly 7,700 students, 69% who are students of color and 38% who speak English as a second language,” said Aaron Presberg, Senior Program Manager of Energy and Sustainability for Portland Public Schools. “These projects will provide better learning environments in our city’s classrooms both during the day and in after-school programming, including any programming run by community partners that utilize our buildings.”

$55.5 million for TriMet’s 82nd Avenue Transit Project to support infrastructure for Bus Rapid Transit, workforce development and corridor cooling elements along seven miles of 82nd Avenue from Southeast Clatsop Street to the Northeast Cully neighborhood. Local funds will be matched through federal dollars, amplifying the PCEF investment and helping to fulfill a larger community vision for a safer, more people-friendly corridor. The project includes workforce training, apprenticeships and wraparound services to cultivate construction and clean-energy careers. Community partners include the 82nd Ave Coalition, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), Constructing Hope, Oregon Tradeswomen, Portland Opportunities and Industrialization Center (POIC) and Portland YouthBuilders.

“These projects all embody a vision that our organizations had for PCEF when our organizers dreamed this up,” said Duncan Hwang, Metro Council and Co-Chair of the 82nd Avenue Transit Project Steering Committee, Community Development Director at APANO and corridor resident. “Today really feels like a milestone and the result of years of organizing. I am so excited to be able to make that community vision, which seemed just impossible a decade ago, a reality.”

Referring to expected annual reduction of over 1 million vehicle miles traveled, the replacement of diesel buses with zero emissions buses and improvements to reliability, Michael Kiser, TriMet Project Director for 82nd Avenue said:

“Improvements to our highest ridership bus line in one of the most diverse areas in the state will greatly benefit the communities that surround 82nd. When we address these reliability issues through infrastructure investments, we’re also able to expand access to jobs in the region, and in turn, create greater economic empowerment.”

$41 million for facility upgrades to decarbonize the City of Portland’s fleet of vehicles and provide workforce training. The project will provide the vehicle maintenance infrastructure to decarbonize Oregon’s largest municipal fleet of vehicles. Through a partnership with Portland Community College and its foundation, it will also make living wage career pathways in fleet and facility maintenance accessible to disadvantaged students. The project reduces carbon emissions and addresses a regional workforce shortage by providing training and career development to more than 1,200 students.
$36 million for Prosper Portland’s Broadway Corridor redevelopment of the former United States Postal Service site in Northwest Portland. PCEF funding will support street trees, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and net zero energy middle income housing, enabling the first phase of redevelopment and spurring further investment. Project funding also includes workforce development to create a diverse, credentialed pool of workers to sustain construction activities in the Broadway corridor and beyond.
$31.6 million for Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Empowering PDX project to provide solar power, battery storage and energy efficiency technologies that will serve more than 1,500 low-income households, driving down emissions while providing up to $12.8 million in utility bill savings over a 20-year period. The project is in cooperation with Metro, the Port of Portland and a range of community partners.

“Community solar has a unique ability to deliver savings directly to low-income households at a cost-effective price and also addresses households that don’t own their own home,” said Evan Ramsey, Senior Director of the Renewables Program at Bonneville Environmental Foundation. “Community solar subscriptions can be taken with the household if they move, so while this is a multi-decade asset, it can also move along with the household as they move from residence to residence.”

$25 million for Energy Trust of Oregon’s Portland Solar for All project to support the installation of solar energy systems for about 2,700 low-income households and provide job and training opportunities to diversify and strengthen the local solar workforce.
$20.6 million for the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Sidewalks to Schools project in cooperation with the nonprofit organization Oregon Walks. The project will use PCEF funds to construct new tree-lined sidewalks near schools to create safe, accessible routes for walking – the most affordable and carbon-free form of transportation. The project meets a long-standing need in East Portland.
$20 million to the Clean Industry Community Program for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to provide resources for large facilities and industrial businesses to invest in decarbonization, energy efficiency, and renewable energy for their operations. The industrial and large institutional sectors have unique challenges in removing fossil fuels from manufacturing process and facilities. Funding will allow transformative changes to improve business competitiveness while contributing to shared climate goals.

Source: City of Portland

Romeo's Blog